Redshirt freshman Amy Shackelford led the Ladyjacks to a 10th-place finish Saturday at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships

Nov. 10, 2007

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -
The Stephen F. Austin cross country teams wrapped up their 2007 season Saturday by competing in the NCAA South Central Regional Championships, hosted by the University of Arkansas. The Ladyjacks finished 10th in their race, and the SFA men competed but were unable to record a score since they only had four runners complete the course.

Redshirt freshman Amy Shackelford was the first Ladyjack to cross the line, finishing 48th with a time of 22:37. She led a tight pack of SFA women that posted the lowest time spread of the season, with a mere 33 seconds separating the first runner from the fifth. Shackelford was also one of five underclassmen in SFA's top six runners.

"Being so young, it was a pretty solid race for most of them who were seeing their first regional meet ever," SFA coach Lou Snelling said. "The challenge will be to see how much we can move up next year and the year after."

Senior Katrina Nicholas followed Shackelford with a 49th-place time of 22:40. Sophomore Chelsea Bradford finished 62nd with a time of 23:00, and redshirt freshman Megan Jenkins posted a time of 23:05 to finish 68th. True freshman Meredith Blocker rounded out the SFA scoring runners by finishing 69th with a time of 23:10, and classmate Marie Flores took 77th with a time of 23:33. Senior Kirsten Wieseman crossed the iine with a time of 24:56 in 108th place.

"This was probably the best race we've had as a team on the women's side," Snelling said. "Probably the only thing we were missing today was a low stick -- someone to get up there and place 10th or 15th. If we have that, it probably boosts us up to the next grouping of teams."

In the men's race, a lack of depth the Lumberjacks have been battling all season finally caught up to them. Junior Cole Hollingsworth had been dealing with an injury, and, in a race-day decision, Snelling opted to hold him out to avoid risking further damage.

True freshman Dennis Yeats led the four remaining 'Jacks with his 56th-place time of 32:10. It was the fourth time in five races for Yeats to lead the SFA men.

"Just like he did at conference, Dennis ran a very even race," Snelling said. "He didn't start out way up front, he just worked his way up as he went."

Junior Gerardo Moreno finished close behind Yeats in 59th place with a time of 32:28. Classmate Aaron Hohn was 77th, posting a time of 33:16, and redshirt freshman Elliot Starcevich finished 91st with a time of 34:19.